10 New Burgers to Devour Around LA Now

By Lesley BallaOctober 21, 2013By Lesley Balla | October 21, 2013

Photo by: Lesley Balla

There are gazillions of great burgers around Los Angeles. Ok, millions. But even if a Double Double Animal-style is your go-to, it's always fun to try something new. When you're ready to sink your teeth into a grass-fed bison burger, chicken or beef sliders, or even a heart-healthy salmon burger, here are 10 new combinations you'll find on menus right now.

Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash collaborated with one of his favorite burger chains to create this rockin’ burger, now available at all Umami locations. The beef patty is topped with braised shiitakes, caramelized onions, American cheese, avocado spread, wasabi aïoli and a Parmesan crisp. A portion of the sale proceeds benefit the Los Angeles Youth Network. Get it now through November.

Tucked between Delancey and Mission Cantina, in the shadow of the new Everson College building in Hollywood, George Abou-Daoud’s (Bowery, Mercantile, Delancey, Township Saloon, Rosewood Tavern) latest concept is a simple take-out window with only a few things on the menu: beef sliders, fried chicken sliders, fries and milkshakes. The sliders come topped with housemade Thousand Island dressing and pickles, and the hand-cut fries can get smothered in the same. The milkshakes can be as simple as chocolate or strawberry, but there are also the excellent date shakes made with real dates, or the extreme Big One made with a ridiculous amount of candy and cereal and topped with a whole Twinkie.

Game is the name of the game at all 11 locations of Burger Lounge (LA and San Diego). Look for the grass-fed bison burger throughout October and November served on the signature bun (gluten-free or lettuce wrap optional) with blue cheese, pickled onions and roasted garlic aïoli. The burger switches to wild boar in January and February, with crispy onion rings, smoked mozzarella and BBQ sauce, and grass-fed elk with jicama slaw, crispy pork belly and chipotle aïoli in March and April.

You already know how great the burgers are at Plan Check, where chef Ernesto Uchimura makes things like ketchup leather for his all-beef patties (he did work for Umami Burger, after all). For October, his Oktoberfest-inspired burger is a bratwurst patty on a salt-and-pepper pretzel bun with atomic beer mustard, beer-braised sauerkraut and caramelized onions. Get it solo or with fries and a pint of Licher Oktoberfest for $15 all month long.

Known for its great beer list and great patio, the Santa Monica gastropub has recently added a vegetarian patty made in-house that comes topped with avocado, cucumber, sprouts and roasted garlic aïoli. On Mondays during lunch, you can get it or any of the burgers (beef, bison, turkey and more) your way, choosing from an array of toppings on a handy-dandy checklist for only $10.

It might be known for bacon-izing everything, including milkshakes, but this month Slater’s goes a bit Korean with its bulgogi-topped burger. The beef patty gets smothered with red pepper flake cucumber kimchi, beef bulgogi, sautéed mushrooms, crispy wonton slivers and Korean-style BBQ sauce all on a brioche bun. Have your bacon on the side.

The Rat Pack lore still haunts this Beverly Hills classic, but with a recent facelift, cocktail menu and new chef comes a little modernization - i.e. there’s a burger on the menu now. Of course you can still get veal Milanese, chicken parmesan, and steak Sinatra, but now there are panini and sandwiches, like the LDV Burger, a beef patty topped with marinated roasted peppers, Fontina cheese and basil aïoli on a ciabatta roll. Although Manny the maître'd is no longer there, the stories he’d tell of the Reagans hopefully live on.

If you know anything about Nick Offerman's Parks and Recreation character Ron Swanson, you know the man is made of meat. And if you know anything about Offerman the man, he also likes a good steak, or in this case, a burger. The actor collaborated on a sandwich with the Eagle Rock crew, and so the "American Ham" Burger was created. The special burger is the "essence of good taste and manliness," a 6-oz. beef patty topped with shaved ham, two layers of Gruyère cheese, hot sweet mustard, mayo and bread-and-butter pickles on a sourdough bun. It’s available through the month of October.

This year-old Glendale spot has a slightly more upscale look than your average burger joint, with a sleek design, purple velvet pillows and faux-crocodile-skin chairs. Gourmet burgers aren't the only thing you'll find here, but it is a specialty, with a regular roster of house combos as well as build-your-own options. Right now the Black Label Burger is a special, a dry-aged beef patty topped with roasted garlic aïoli, onion confit, black truffles and black-truffle cheese, and crispy potatoes. Look for more EBB's to pop up in Downtown LA, Hollywood and Westwood soon.